DEEN
maintrac

maintrac®

Circulating Tumor Cells
Prognosis and Therapy Monitoring

MAINTRAC® LIQUID BIOPSY

Innovative laboratory diagnostics at every stage of cancer treatment

maintrac® is a highly sensitive, minimally invasive microscopic technique for detecting viable circulating epithelial tumor cells (CETCs/CTCs). It is applicable in over 90% of all carcinomas and offers decisive advantages by enabling the early detection of renewed tumor activity—before it can be detected through imaging. This allows for proactive therapeutic intervention.

Biomarkers for assessing the effectiveness of tumor therapies for solid tumors and estimating the risk of metastasis. Overall, maintrac® and stemtrac® can contribute to improved patient survival and better quality of life.

maintrac®
The blood test for monitoring tumor activity

maintrac® is a highly sensitive, minimally invasive microscopic technique for detecting viable circulating epithelial tumor cells (CETCs/CTCs). It is applicable in over 90% of all carcinomas and offers decisive advantages by enabling the early detection of renewed tumor activity—before it can be detected through imaging. This allows for proactive therapeutic intervention.

maintrac® thus represents a valuable tool for monitoring tumor activity and supports individualized, patient-centered cancer therapy.

maintrac®

CELL COUNTING

Treatment Monitoring

Direct observation and individual adjustment:

The maintrac® cell count allows for therapeutic monitoring and real-time assessment of minimal residual disease in patients with both primary and metastatic tumors — often before changes can be detected through imaging.

Serial maintrac® cell count analyses performed every 3–6 months provide insight into the dynamics of circulating tumor cell levels.

Clinical Applications:

  1. Before treatment: to establish a baseline
  2. During treatment: to assess the effectiveness of ongoing therapy and adjust it if necessary
  3. After treatment: to monitor for potential recurrence following completion of therapy
  4. to monitor for potential recurrence following completion of therapy: to evaluate how the cancer responds to new therapies or to detect resistance at an early stage

Interpretation of results

Decrease in cell count:

  1. May indicate a good response to ongoing therapy

Increase in cell count:

  1. May suggest that the therapy is less effective or the disease is progressing
  2. Could indicate resistance to the current treatment

This procedure supports personalized and effective cancer therapy.

maintrac®

DRUG SENSITIVITY TESTING

With maintrac® drug testing, the effectiveness of a planned therapy can be individually tested in advance on circulating tumor cells. The most effective medications for the respective patient can be identified

Depending on tumor type, disease stage, prior treatments, and individual patient factors, the response rate to different substances can vary significantly.

The testing shows:

  1. Response (Sensitivity): The effectiveness of cytotoxic substances on viable circulating tumor cells.
  2. Non-response (Resistance): The absence of an effect.

The substances can be tested individually or in combination as well as in different concentrations. Additionally, the effect of hyperthermia on circulating tumor cells can be examined – with or without accompanying cytotoxic substances.

Application:

  1. After the initial diagnosis of a malignant tumor, before therapy is initiated, and when guidelines allow for drug selection
  2. In the metastatic situation, before starting a new therapy
  3. In the case of disease progression during treatment

Advantages:

  1. Personalized therapy planning
  2. Maximization of treatment effectiveness
  3. Minimization of side effects

This procedure enables precise, personalized therapy adjustment and provides valuable insights for the treatment strategy.

maintrac®

THERAPY-RELEVANT CHARACTERISTICS

With maintrac®, therapy-relevant characteristics of circulating tumor cells can be analyzed to provide indications of possible response or non-response to a planned therapy.

Clinical significance:

  1. Indication for therapy selection: The effectiveness of certain therapies depends on whether the tumor cells exhibit specific surface or genetic markers. Targeted therapy is only meaningful if these characteristics are detected.
  2. Aggressiveness and resistance: The analysis of tumor cell characteristics provides information about tumor aggressiveness as well as the potential response to targeted therapies.

Dynamics of tumor cells:

Both the surface characteristics and genetic properties of tumor cells can change during the course of the disease. These changes can affect the effectiveness of therapies and make regular reevaluation of the tumor cells advisable.

List of cell characteristics:

  1. Hormone receptors: ER, PR, AR
  2. Growth factor receptors: Her2/neu amplification, EGFR, EGFR amplification, VEGFR2, c-Kit, IGFR
  3. Prostate-associated markers: PSA, PSMA
  4. Proliferation marker: Ki67
  5. Immunomodulatory molecules: PD-L1, B3-H7
  6. Other markers: Apoptosis detection, Mel A / Melan A, PLAP

Application:

  1. When a tissue biopsy to determine tumor characteristics is not possible.
  2. In case of recurrence or progression during targeted therapy.
  3. When the origin of a tumor is unknown (CUP syndrome).

This procedure provides a valuable basis for personalized therapy planning and enables optimized adjustment of the treatment strategy to the individual circumstances of the patient.

stemtrac®

TUMORSPHERES

Tumors release cells into both the surrounding tissue and the bloodstream. These are referred to as circulating epithelial tumor cells (CETCs/CTCs). Among them are so-called circulating cancer stem cells, which can be identified using the stemtrac® method.

In vitro, these cancer stem cells can grow into so-called tumor spheres over a period of up to 21 days. A tumor sphere is a spherical cell structure that arises from the division of a cancer stem cell. These structures are clinically relevant as they indicate the cancer stem cells' ability for self-renewal and tumor formation¹.

The identification and analysis of cancer stem cells provide valuable insights into tumor biology and resistance mechanisms and can contribute to the development of individualized therapy approaches.

Clinical Relevance

The number of stemtrac® tumor spheres correlates with tumor aggressiveness and the risk of metastasis formation:

  1. Higher tumor sphere count in metastatic patients: Patients with metastases show significantly more tumor spheres than non-metastatic patients.
  2. Biomarker for metastases: The number of tumor spheres can serve as a biomarker for the presence of existing metastases.
  3. No tumor sphere growth in healthy individuals: No tumor sphere growth has been observed in individuals without diagnosed cancer.

These findings make tumor sphere analysis an important tool in assessing tumor aggressiveness and metastasis risk.

Use of stemtrac®

The number of stemtrac® tumor spheres can be used in combination with maintrac® to monitor the activity of the remaining tumor burden:

  1. After completion of therapy: To assess the aggressiveness and metastasis risk of the remaining tumor cells.
  2. In complete remission: If the number of circulating epithelial tumor cells (CETCs/CTCs) increases.
  3. In disease progression: If CETCs/CTCs are low or undetectable (loss of EpCAM expression, i.e., dedifferentiation of tumor cells).

In summary, tumor sphere analysis with stemtrac® provides valuable insights into tumor aggressiveness, metastasis risk, and disease dynamics. This enables precise and personalized therapy monitoring.

Why it is sensible to perform cell counts repeatedly throughout the entire therapy.

We can verify whether a therapy is truly effective by monitoring if the cells are being destroyed and the number of cells present in the blood decreases. We have investigated this in many tumors and under different therapies.

Even during long-term therapy, for example (anti-)hormone therapy, we can check whether the cell count remains stable or decreases. This is a good sign, as it means the residual cells are dormant. In this situation, tumor recurrence is very rarely observed. However, if the cell count rises, this is a sign of renewed tumor activity and a reason to change the therapy.

THE ADVANTAGES OF MAINTRAC®

The use of maintrac® is possible for almost all solid tumors and offers proven benefits:

Early Detection of Tumor Activity
maintrac® enables monitoring of minimal tumor burden and early detection of recurrences before imaging techniques.

Therapy Monitoring
The method allows real-time observation of the effectiveness of applied therapies and helps to adjust early.

Highly Specific and Highly Sensitive
Unlike other methods, circulating tumor cells are neither fixed, isolated, nor enriched but analyzed directly from the blood sample.

Personalized Medicine
Supported by biomarker tests and assessment of therapy effects, maintrac® enables precise and patient-specific treatment.

maintrac® allows early, minimally invasive, and highly sensitive monitoring of tumor activity as well as individualized therapy optimization, making it an indispensable tool in modern oncology.

Timing of the blood sample collection:

  • Before neoadjuvant chemotherapy
  • Before surgery
  • 3 weeks after surgery
  • 2–3 weeks after a chemotherapy cycle
  • 2–3 weeks after completion of therapy
  • During hormone or maintenance therapy
  • During a therapy-free interval

MAINTRAC® COURIER SERVICE

Would you like your blood sample to be picked up by a courier service? We’ll be happy to assist you with the arrangement.

▼ References ▼


Alle erlauben Nur notwendige Durch die weitere Nutzung der Seite stimmen Sie der Verwendung von Cookies zu. Weitere Informationen